Process Journal 26 - Testing Bottles for Airtightness

The process of carbonation requires the use of airtight bottles. Over the past few months I've collected empty kombucha bottles. Each one is glass with a twist cap and have a volume of approximately 16 fluid ounces. To test if these bottles were indeed suitable for use, I filled each bottle with water and placed them upside down on a paper towel.

Bottles on the paper towels

The paper towel after the test

The bottles had no detectable leakage as the paper towel was visibly dry following the test. The bottles were left upside down for approximately 5 minutes.

Most sources have recommended the use of Grolsch-style bottles, which have flip top rubber stoppers. In the future it would be ideal to have some of these to use.